FCC Chairman Michael Powell turned down a similar request from two of his own commissioners last week.

The proposed plan would allow companies to own more TV stations in local markets, reaching more U.S. homes. It also would eliminate many restrictions on one company owning combinations of newspapers and TV and radio stations in the same city. The FCC is scheduled to vote on the proposal June 2.

"These changes would move this country closer to a time when the media is dominated by a small number of national companies that are completely out of the reach of local ownership and control," Feingold, D-Wis., wrote in a letter to Powell.

"This would be a significant and I believe largely negative development, given our nation's history of local access and local control of the media that has served us so well until now."